Starla K. Roels
Partner

Ms. Roels advises tribal clients on a wide range of issues, including patient privacy and security of medical records under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), health care issues relating to tribal health facilities, employment and personnel, Federal Tort Claims Act, and matters under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA). She was actively involved in the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act by assisting the National Steering Committee of tribal leaders in developing legislative language and exploring policy issues relating to tribal health facilities.

Prior to joining the Firm in 1999, Ms. Roels was a Policy Analyst with the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, where she focused on treaty-reserved fishing rights and the impacts on those rights caused by hydroelectric dams. She worked with the Commission's treaty tribes on hydroelectric relicensing and other matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Endangered Species Act, Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) and the National Environmental Policy Act.

Ms. Roels has made numerous presentations on the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, tribal health facilities, and tribal rights relative to the Endangered Species Act. She has written a number of articles, including Mid-Columbia HCPs and the Implications of the No Surprises Policy, with Nicole Cordan, 8 Big River News, V.5,  No. 3 (Spring 1999); Borrowing Instead of Taking: How the Seemingly Opposite Threads of Indian Treaty Rights and Property Rights Activism Could Intertwine to Restore Salmon to the Rivers, 28 Envtl. L. 375 (1998); Animal Habitats in Harm’s Way: Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Great Oregon v. Babbitt, 25 Envtl. L. 513 (1995).

E-mail: starla.roels@hsdwor.com

Phone: (503) 242-1745

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